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Hedley Fitton 1859– 1929
Horse Guards, London 1905 Etching 13 ¼ × 17 ¼ inches (33.6 × 43.8 cm) Signed, dated and inscribed with title Horse Guards is a military and ceremonial gatehouse linking Whitehall and Horse Guards Parade. It has been the backdrop to the annual Trooping the Colour, numerous regal and Imperial occasions, and also the 2012 Olympics beach volleyball events. Horse Guards was built in 1745, to designs by William Kent, replacing a 1663 building which provided barracks and stables for the Household Cavalry. Fitton was a prolific printmaker of the Edwardian era, especially of townscapes and cathedrals. Large scale and complex, his works were hugely popular in Europe and America until the 1930s, when he rather fell from fashion. Michael Campbell observes that Fitton’s 'elaborate architectural etchings form a specific link between the typical etched work of the Victorian period and the expressive, open freedom of the pioneering works of the British Etching Revival. At their heart is always a heavily worked composition, filled with etched line in a manner characteristic of Victorian art ... They are essentially etching for etching’s sake, recording splendid examples of elaborate architecture and fascinating town views.' |